The Fossil Free Gathering will take place at the Kingswood Dearne Valley centre in Conisbrough (South Yorkshire, near Doncaster) from Friday 18th October to Sunday 20th October.

The Gathering will run from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon – with arrivals welcome from 6pm, and sessions wrapping up on Sunday at 3:30pm.

The Fossil Free Gathering is place for campaigners working on climate justice in their local communities to come together. Many of the attendees at the Gathering will be involved in the fossil fuel divestment movement – targeting local councils, Parliament, universities, churches, and more.

We also welcome other local campaigners working on anti-fossil fuel and climate justice campaigns like the School Strikes, Green New Deal, bank campaigning and arts sponsorship.

You’re also welcome to the Gathering if you’re new to the movement. You don’t have to be really actively involved in a local group or campaign to come along to the Gathering, as long as this is something you’re interested in. There will be workshops and activities catering to all experience levels and plenty of ways to get involved in campaigning through coming along to the Gathering.

We particularly welcome people who face barriers to participating in gatherings like ours, whether because of background, economic resources, disability, race, age, gender or any other form of injustice and oppression. If there are any additional things we can do to make the Gathering a welcoming and comfortable space for you – let us know.

The Gathering is a 16+ event for participants, if you’re aged 16-18, we’ll need some extra information from you before you arrive.

We are asking for a contribution of £30 per person for the Gathering, however if this is unaffordable for you we also have a number of free places, on a needs basis. This includes accommodation, food and all of the workshops at the Gathering (but it doesn’t include travel costs).

There is funding available to help cover travel costs for those who need it. Get in touch with nonhlanhla.makuyana@350.org to discuss travel arrangements.

We encourage you to use public transport to get to the Gathering and the venue is walking distance (2 minutes) from the nearest station – Conisbrough.

Conisbrough station is on the line between Sheffield, Doncaster, Hull and Scunthorpe. Trains run from Doncaster roughly every 20 minutes and it’s a 9 minute journey.

If you are driving to the Gathering, there is free parking available on site.

The majority of accommodation for the Gathering is in small ‘ecopods’ – wooden huts which sleep 2-8 people in bunk beds. The pods are fully heated, have electricity access and are pretty cosy! Private rooms will be available for those who require one.

The majority of pods are not ensuite, but there is a toilet and shower block available within a few steps of the pods by crossing an outdoor courtyard.

Food will be provided by the centre, and we have informed them that we need a wide range of vegetarian and vegan options. Please let us know any additional dietary requirements in the application form.

Tea/coffee will be provided in breaks by the centre, but we’d love it if we could collectively organise snacks for ourselves – home-baking is definitely welcome (!!), if you aren’t much of a baker, please do consider bringing some other kind of snack to be shared.

The conference centre, which we will use for the Gathering, is fully wheelchair accessible. The main meeting space is at ground floor level, with ramp access to all other rooms and disabled toilets available in the building. The dining room is also at ground floor level, in a separate building next door to the conference centre.

Accommodation is roughly a 2 minute walk (within the site) from the conference centre, along flat paths which are partially paved and partially unpaved track (the unpaved track is in good and navigable condition).

Wheelchair accessible accommodation (with accessible ensuite toilet and shower facilities) is available to those who need it, however we do need to know in advance so we can allocate rooms. Please indicate in your application form if this is something you need.

We can provide a hearing loop where needed for the Gathering, and will use microphones to amplify sound as needed as well. Again, please indicate in your application form if this is something you need so we can plan ahead.

The Fossil Free Gathering is being organised by 350.org, Friends of the Earth England, Wales & Northern Ireland, Friends of the Earth Scotland, and Platform.

A small staff team from across these organisations will be running the sessions during the Gathering, with support from volunteers in the movement and other allied organisations.

To book for the Fossil Free Gathering, we’re asking everyone to first fill out a short application form, with details about who you are and why you’re interested to come to the Gathering. This is so we can make sure that everyone coming along is going to have a good time and find it useful.

After you’ve filled in the application, we’ll be in touch to let you know whether you have a place, and you’ll be sent the link to book via an Eventbrite tickets page. After you’ve booked, you’ll be added to an email list where we’ll send updates and information about the Gathering.

Booking for the Gathering will close on Friday 4th October.